MyPE

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Walter Sisulu Municipality can’t even keep its own lights on

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Dear MyPE

The Walter Sisulu Municipal offices in James Calata (Jamestown) have had their electricity cut, leaving the community without a functional municipal office.

Eskom cut the electricity to the offices on 21 August 2020 due to non-payment of their electricity bill. Three weeks later and the electricity has not been reconnected, one assumes because the bill has still not been paid and that Eskom is tired of the poor payment record of the Walter Sisulu municipality.

Residents of Maletswai (Aliwal North) are already being punished for the municipality’s incompetence, with three hours of rotational loadshedding being implemented every day since July. This is apparently due to the ongoing dispute between Eskom and the municipality over outstanding fees, with the municipality defaulting on the agreed repayment terms.

No official communication, however, has been received from the mayor or other municipal officials regarding these power cuts. Residents are, quite literally, being kept in the dark.

These long-suffering residents are now receiving even less services, because the staff at the municipal offices cannot perform their duties without electricity. This has impacted on a wide range of services, from account queries to, ironically, the purchase of prepaid Eskom electricity vouchers.

Residents now have to make use of third-party vendors, and pay an additional 10% service fee, because they cannot buy their electricity tokens directly from the municipality, because the municipality hasn’t paid its electricity bill!

No alternative arrangements, such as the installation of a backup generator at the offices, have been made by the municipality.

The ongoing electricity supply disruptions and collapsing basic services are destroying the local economy. Businesses, already under severe pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic, are battling to absorb the extra costs of fuel purchases for generators.

If these businesses close, thousands of jobs are on the line.

I have now escalated this matter to the DA’s Shadow MEC for COGTA, Vicky Knoetze, MPL, who will be taking the matter further at a provincial level.

The Democratic Alliance has a track record of good governance. The vast majority of municipalities with clean audits are from the DA-governed Western Cape.

Our community deserve a DA government that is efficient, caring and capable of managing its finances properly.

At the very least, they deserve a municipality that can keep its own lights on.

Regards

Cllr Matthee Nel
Caucus Leader in Walter Sisulu Local Municipality

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